Noteworthy...

Your omniscient author in absentia:
On Opening Day 2004 The Soxaholix site was born.



Four million page views, 1692 strips, 44684 comments, and two World Series later, we say...

"Play Ball!"

May this be the best season yet.

Thanks for your readership over the past seven seaons and offseasons.

 

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Comments

[Harwich Rich]

...and thank you,h.b. ;)

[soxinsix]

Thanks for giving us a must-see place on the Web every day h.b. Play Ball!!

[Bob]

There's an old Vietnamese saying:

"Kill Charlie!"

There's another old Vietnamese saying:

"When eating a fruit, think of the person who planted the tree."

Thanks for the Whomping Willow, H.B.

And go Sox.

[Kaz]

Heh, I was expecting a "sorry, guys, I don't want to disappoint you by stopping mid-season so I'm shutting down the site today....APRIL FOOLS!"...but this is better. ;)

[yazbread]

This site has been in first place since that opening day long ago. It has an insurmountable lead. Thank you HB.

[Jason O.]

Just a moment, what's this? Actually playing games? I thought the World Series trophy parade was today with the duckboats, et al? Surely MLB doesn't think we actually need a season to sully (that's sully as in demean, not Sully from fackin Reveah) the coronation of the most gritty, dirt on the uniform, playing for the love of the game, small market, don't buy championships, housed in the most historic and beloved building team in the universe?

[SAC]

Happy Anniversary Hart Brachen

[rm]

Thank you and Happy Birthday. I'm more of a lurker than a poster. I check the site out everyday and enjoy it a lot.

Opening day, when hope springs eternal.

[COD]

The Skanks are in first
Jason O is surly though
He knows it won't last

Game On!

[chucks]

Opening Day, I'm all warm and fuzzy despite the weather.
Anyone else notice all the empty seats at Busch Stadium yesterday while the game was still tied in extras? For a fan base that claims to be the most devoted bestest of them all, it was pretty surprising.

[mike]

mmmm cake

[mike]

mmmm cake

[Steve in MD]

Yeah chucks - almost as many empty seats as the box seats at the toilet... Loved the camera angle from center field that showed 3 of every 4 seats empty. I guess it was too cold out for the mfy fans to show up.

Happy Anneversary to Soxaholix everywhere!

[Billy Mahty]

Seventh season, egads! I'm glad it's here.

h.b., you seem to have missed what I said yesterday regarding the ESPN pundits. The strip mentioned that 33 of 45 picked the Sox to win the WS. Equally impressive to me is that all 45 picked the Sox to win the AL East.

I'm with you on McCarver.

[Jason O.]

Steve, that insult to the Yankees fanbase was 100% grit and heart with not even a hint of pink hat involved...so much so that it was in fact lofty: Mike Barnicle, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Peter Gammons, Gordon Edes and also the entire staff of ESPN loved it while they were all jockeying to get Theo another cup of coffee.

Regarding this wretched site's seventh anniversary...in the recent words of Brother Minister Farrakhan: This site's creator is clearly possessed by demons.

[h.b.]

Billy, yes, totally missed that from your comment yesterday. Thanks for the correction.

[James]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[Roscoe]

Happy Birthday, Soxaholix. I forgot that the site started in 2004, best yeah eva for Sox fans! Nice work, HB. By the way, I'm wondering if my wife will mind if I bring my Cloud Girlfriend to a game this summer. http://www.cloudgirlfriend.com/

[Seamus]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Soxaholix!

And thanks for all your hard work, hb.

Just the other day my co-worker was commenting that she didn't know much about my morning routine except that it always included "some time on that web site, whatever it is."

[Natalie]

Uh, oh. Seven year itch? Is hb going to abandon us midway through the season for a younger, sexier group of commenters? :)

Happy anniversary! Great day all around. I shall be spending it in my version of heaven: shooting some golf balls down at Chelsea Pier, taking a run in CP with the dog, and finding a Sox bar to watch Opening Day with some friends (any recs from NYC Soxaholix?). Hope you all have equally killer Fridays planned. GO SOX!

[h.b.]

"some time on that web site, whatever it is."

Best line of the day.

[Louclinton]

Seven years, huh?

I remember fondly the day the light came on and I stumbled down this creepy rabbit hole of diversion and perversion. After all this time, I have never figured out what "ditka" signifies, but to be honest, I haven't spent too much time trying to deconstruct the puzzle. This dark place has fed me Red Sox gruel on days when it sustained me and introduced me to literary and "cultural" references and subjects that an older gentleman such as myself has no business knowing about.

And then there was the whole Lost thing, but who wants to be reminded of that?

It's nice to know such literate people with such singleminded need toverbally

[Louclinton]

To verbally eviscerate fat filthy guys who live with their mother's corpse in the fridge.

So, for all that, i am grateful to hb and the rest of you.

Also there's a shitload of snow in my yard, and none in Arlington.

Rhapsodically,
Lc

Sorry about the splitpost

[Louclinton]

To verbally eviscerate fat filthy guys who live with their mother's corpse in the fridge.

So, for all that, i am grateful to hb and the rest of you.

Also there's a shitload of snow in my yard, and none in Arlington.

Rhapsodically,
Lc

Sorry about the splitpost

[Louclinton]

And the double split post. That's a new one

[yazbread]

to abandon us midway through the season for a younger, sexier group of commenters

Not if you are wearing your Nuke LaLoosh outfit.

[Rudi]

You complete bunch of saps!

Don't you get it? The Happy Happy act is an April Fools Day pile-o-crap. Sure, we'd expect a "I'm quitting, ... just joking" gag but this is more insidious.

This is the calm after the fake drop on the old roller coaster at Paragon Park. This is when you think everything's going to be okay and then CRASH BANG BOOM Batman fight scene mayhem ensues.

Mark my words, H.B. has it out for us. Seven long years pretending to like us just for this day of sweet sweet revenge. A long way to go for a gag you say? (how long is it? That's rather a personal question Sir) Remember H.B. is a student of the classics like "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Moby Dick" and most any Clint Eastwood or Charles Bronson film from the 70s!

That's all I have to say (until I write something else).

[Roscoe]

Good one, LC. I even Googled "toverbally" thinking it was a word I didn't know. Your post reminded me that the Soxaholix delivers the "cultural" and the literary references we need. A while ago, HB quoted from Auden's "As I walked out one evening," which has since become a favorite of mine, one particularly appropriate on birthdays. Thanks, HB. Here's the poem: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15551

[Jazz Lunatique]

Thanks H.B., we appreciate your efforts and commentary. I laugh my ass off a whole lot on this website. and the NSFW stuff is always interesting.

GO RED SOX!

[Daubie]

Thanks h.b.!

[ponch]

thanks for all the work you do and the enjoyment it brings. We get the Dropkicks and Soxaholix - what do they MFY fans get?

Rappers wearing Yankees caps sideways with unbent brims. Yeesh.

[Kaz]

Ponch, there's only one "p" in Rapers.

[sonomasox]

yep, indeed - thanks for everything HB. And, game time can not get here soon enough.

Go Sox!

[w8r]

mahalo h.b.

[Lobstaman]

Thanks for 7 years of awesome hb.

[Bob]

Kaz, that's pretty damn funny.

[Jim Loomis]

Hauoli la hanau from Maui.

[IkeG]

Happy birthday sexa-, er soxaholix!

RIP Lou Gorman

[Bob]

"Gorman died after a long illness."

Yeah, it took 25 years for that loss to the Mets to kill him.

[yazbread]

Cute story from the Tribune.

[HunterStars]

Thanks for seven years, h.b.! I'm looking forward to the next 7.

[-bg (SF Bay - oldtowne expat, lurker...)]

A daily, literate, funny reminder of home… with baseball!
Thanks & Congratulations… Play Ball!

[Rob in CT, er, San Antonio?]

Here it is, YOUR anniversary and WE'RE the ones who celebrate it.

Thanks for many wonderful seasons (and off-seasons), h.b.

[Rob in CT, er, San Antonio?]

Here it is, YOUR anniversary and WE'RE the ones who celebrate it.

Thanks for many wonderful seasons (and off-seasons), h.b.

[Rob in CT, er, San Antonio?]

Here it is, YOUR anniversary and WE'RE the ones who celebrate it.

Thanks for many wonderful seasons (and off-seasons), h.b.

[Rob in CT, er, San Antonio?]

Here it is, YOUR anniversary and WE'RE the ones who celebrate it.

Thanks for many wonderful seasons (and off-seasons), h.b.

[Rob in CT, er, San Antonio?]

What the hell? Quadruple post? That just might be an all-time record. Certainly a personal best.

Sorry. Not the way to kick off the season...

[Harwich Rich]

Way to get the numbers up,Rob.J/K buddy ;)

[Steve in MD]

Rob, I'm thinking your quad post is an omen - Ellsbury, Pedroia and Crawford will draw walks and Youk will hit a grand slam.

[Betsy in Rhode Island]

Thanks h.b. from some one who is a regular reader but not a poster... can't wait to have Gonzalez and Crawford up to bat!

[louclinton]

@RiC

showoff

[Natalie]

Here we go, kids!! 2011 Sox season underway..

[Follower of Tito]

Seriously, 90 degrees at game time...like lc, I still f#%& snow in my yard. Jake up to bat!

[w8r]

bourbone head. hehe

[Follower of Tito]

Youkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk! 1st RBI of the year!

[yazbread]

Rob - GMail Motion is just a Beta version. I assume that accounts for the quad postings.

[Bob]

Gotta get back to the game.

Have a great weekend all. Hopefully we'll have something fun to yak about on Monday.

[Eric]

Thank you h.b. for giving us something to read.

[Betsy in Rhode Island]

There will be no mystery this year about when Papi will hit his first home run...

[Lobstaman]

So much for 162-0 :/

[another Bob]

That sucked. But I'll be at their first win tomorrow.
Thanks for all the chuckles over the years HB.

[Red Stripe Nan]

So I'm like 24 hours late (lovely WebSense blocks all fun at work). Opening Day was great except for, um, the actual game. 161 more to go.
Thanks h.b. and this whole damned community.

[BigBri]

Thanks H.B. Thanks for keeping these knuckle draggers off the streets while they hang on your every word.
@Jason O. - Keep fightin' the good fight.

Sleep tight, ya morons!!

[PaPesky]

Opening day be dammed! I'm still here and waiting for another pennant. From many female soxaholic's 2nd favorite pole. --Pesky
RIP- Lou.

[Devine]

I would say fuck your mother, BigBri...but we all know you have that well in hand.

[soxdownunder]

So much for 161-1.

[rolo]

Thanks HB and the rest of you creeps! Can't believe it's been 7 years already.